Baltimore Ravens Star Ray Rice Ready to Make a Difference in the Lives of Young Athletes

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has announced today his Ray of Hope giveaway that will donate VertiMax V8 training systems to two youth athletic programs. Beginning today, January 3rd, through January 18th, coaches, parents and athletes will have the opportunity to tell their story via Rice’s Ray of Hope Facebook page, or using the Twitter hashtag #RayofHope27. Let Ray know why you feel your athletes or schools need VertiMax and can benefit most from its ability to create more competitive athletes. People are encouraged to submit their story to Ray’s Facebook page or Twitter hashtag. He will go through all of the entries that are in by January 18th at 11:59pm EST and on January 22nd, Rice will announce on his Facebook page, the youth athletic programs that will receive the VertiMax V8 speed and vertical training systems.

“VertiMax helped me improve my physical capabilities and performance on the field allowing me to compete at the highest level in the NFL. And now I want to give back a "Ray of Hope" that will help youth athletes create opportunities for themselves in sports. Hope comes in many forms, “said Ray Rice, “Whether it’s through education, mentoring, sports or providing youths with the facilities to help success, I encourage everyone with the time and means to become involved helping America’s youth to achieve their goals. They’re our future.”

Mike Wehrell, CEO of VertiMax and a former football player at the University of Florida, created the VertiMax training system as a more efficient solution for developing explosive leg power and speed thus delivering greater performance gains than conventional training techniques. Rice has always talked about the importance of a solid education, hard work and developing talent to create opportunities to be successful—that is why he became part of the VertiMax team.

“We love to see athletes like Ray Rice and Chris Johnson improve their game because of our technology,” said VertiMax Vice President of Business Development Al Marez, “If we can add value and longevity to their careers because of how our product works, then we have done our job.”

About Ray of Hope Giveaway:For more information on the Ray Rice Ray of Hope Giveaway please visit: http://www.facebook.com/RayRice/app_481134755271882

Coaches, parents and athletes may enter on the Ray Rice Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/RayRice

Or via Twitter by using the hashtag #RayofHope27: https://twitter.com/RayRice27

Submissions should explain the reason that the program, school, or organization would make the best use of the VertiMax. Facebook posts and tweets are accepted. Only one entry per person will be reviewed. The contest will run from January 3rd to 11:59pm EST January 18th. The winners will be announced on January 22nd via Ray Rice’s Facebook page.

About VertiMax: VertiMax is the most advanced sports training system designed to increase athletic performance and abilities across all sports and ages. If you're looking to increase speed, vertical jump ability and overall athleticism, VertiMax is the one sports training system designed to do it all and do it right. It is the only sports training system in the world that can simultaneously apply a load to both the legs and arms for Maximum Vertical Jump Development and it's also the world's top speed training system due to its ability to simultaneously load both the drive phase (foot in contact with ground driving) and swing phase (foot is airborne traveling to the next step) for maximum speed increases in any sport. No other sports fitness system can provide these training advantages to improve sports performance. For more information, log on to www.vertimax.com

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.